IN BRIEF; A Record Amount in Returns For Unclaimed Property

The state treasurer's office announced Monday that it had returned a record $18.2 million in unclaimed property from the general fund to residents during the current fiscal year, which ends this month.

The amount surpassed the previous record of $10.2 million returned during the 2003-4 fiscal year, said Madelyn Colon, the assistant state treasurer, who runs the unclaimed property fund.

Ms. Colon said she expected to return at least $20 million this year. She credited the increase mostly to putting the biannual list of unclaimed property in newspapers and providing information about the fund on the Internet at www.nameitandclaimit.org and through a toll-free number: (800)833-7318.

"The outreach we have been doing for the past for years is starting to pay off," she said.

Ms. Colon said there was about $500 million in cash in the unclaimed property fund, in addition to such things as stocks, mutual funds, uncashed checks, insurance payments and interest payments. She said there were 38,893 new names on the most recent list, which was published Dec. 1, 2004.

She said residents can apply at any time to claim funds they believed are owed to them. Those looking to retrieve funds must file a claim form and provide documentation to support it, she said.